Germany

=== East Francia and the Holy Roman Empire ===
{{Main|East Francia|Holy Roman Empire}}
[[File:East Francia 843.svg|thumb|[[East Francia]] in 843]]
[[File:Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Martin Luther, 1528 (Veste Coburg).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Martin Luther]], born in [[Eisleben]] in 1483, challenged the indulgences of the [[Catholic Church]], giving rise to the [[Reformation]] and [[Protestantism]].]]
[[Charlemagne]] founded the [[Carolingian Empire]] in 800; it was [[Treaty of Verdun|divided in 843]].{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|p= 11}} The eastern successor kingdom of [[East Francia]] stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to the Alps.{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|p= 11}} Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The [[Ottonian]] rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major [[Stem duchy|duchies]].<ref>{{cite book|page=55|title=Franks and Saracens|last=Falk|first=Avner|publisher=Routledge|year=2018|isbn=978-0-429-89969-0}}</ref> In 996, [[Pope Gregory V|Gregory V]] became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin [[Otto III]], whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and [[Burgundy (historical region)|Burgundy]] under the [[Salian]] emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through the [[Investiture controversy]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to Benedict XVI |last=McBrien, Richard |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2000 |page=138}}</ref>

Under the [[House of Hohenstaufen|Hohenstaufen]] emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east ({{lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}}).{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|pp= 19–20}} Members of the [[Hanseatic League]], mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade.{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|pp= 13–24}} The population declined starting with the [[Great Famine of 1315–1317|Great Famine]] in 1315, followed by the [[Black Death]] of 1348–1350.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nelson |first=Lynn Harry |url=http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/black_death.html |title=The Great Famine (1315–1317) and the Black Death (1346–1351) |publisher=University of Kansas |accessdate=19 March 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429072010/http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/black_death.html |archivedate=29 April 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Golden Bull of 1356|Golden Bull]] issued in 1356 provided the constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven [[prince-elector]]s.{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|p= 27}}

[[Johannes Gutenberg]] introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the [[democratization of knowledge]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Eisenstein|first=Elizabeth|year=1980|pages=[https://archive.org/details/printingpressasa00eise_181/page/n24 3]–43|title=The printing press as an agent of change|url=https://archive.org/details/printingpressasa00eise_181|url-access=limited|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29955-8}}</ref> In 1517, [[Martin Luther]] incited the Protestant Reformation and his [[Luther Bible|translation of the Bible]] began the standardization of the language; the 1555 [[Peace of Augsburg]] tolerated the "Evangelical" faith ([[Lutheranism]]), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects ({{lang|la|[[cuius regio, eius religio]]}}).<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.barcelonagse.eu/sites/default/files/working_paper_pdfs/540.pdf|last=Cantoni|first=Davide |title=Adopting a New Religion: The Case of Protestantism in 16th Century Germany|year=2011 |journal=Barcelona GSE Working Paper Series |accessdate=17 March 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809160613/http://www.barcelonagse.eu/sites/default/files/working_paper_pdfs/540.pdf |archivedate=9 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> From the [[Cologne War]] through the [[Thirty Years' War]]s (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population.<ref name="Philpott">{{Cite journal |last=Philpott |first=Daniel |date=January 2000 |title=The Religious Roots of Modern International Relations |journal=World Politics |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=206–245 |doi=10.1017/S0043887100002604|s2cid=40773221 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/savagewarsofpeac0000macf/page/51 |title=The Savage Wars of Peace: England, Japan and the Malthusian Trap |last=Macfarlane |first=Alan |publisher=Blackwell |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-631-18117-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/savagewarsofpeac0000macf/page/51 51]}}</ref>

The [[Peace of Westphalia]] ended religious warfare among the [[Imperial Estate]]s;<ref name="Philpott" /> their mostly German-speaking rulers were able to choose [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]], Lutheranism, or [[Calvinism]] as their official religion.<ref>For a general discussion of the impact of the Reformation on the Holy Roman Empire, see {{cite book|last=Holborn|first=Hajo|author-link=Hajo Holborn|title=A History of Modern Germany, The Reformation |publisher=Princeton University Press|year= 1959|pages=123–248}}</ref> The legal system initiated by a series of [[Imperial Reform]]s (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]].<ref>{{cite book|page=113 |title=Law and Empire: Ideas, Practices, Actors|editor1=Jeroen Duindam |editor2=Jill Diana Harries |editor3=Caroline Humfress |editor4=Hurvitz Nimrod |publisher=Brill|year=2013|isbn=978-90-04-24951-6}}</ref> The [[House of Habsburg]] held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]] in 1740. Following the [[War of the Austrian Succession]] and the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], Charles VI's daughter [[Maria Theresa]] ruled as [[Queen consort|empress consort]] when her husband, [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis I]], became emperor.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/culturespowereur00scot_130/page/n62 45]|title=Cultures of Power in Europe during the Long Eighteenth Century|editor1=Hamish Scott |editor2=Brendan Simms|year=2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/culturespowereur00scot_130|url-access=limited|isbn=978-1-139-46377-5 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=British Museum|accessdate=15 March 2020|url=https://research.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=49231|title=Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia|archivedate=20 June 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620152726/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG111929|url-status=live}}</ref>

From 1740, [[German dualism|dualism]] between the Austrian [[Habsburg monarchy]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] dominated German history. In 1772, 1793, and 1795, Prussia and Austria, along with the [[Russian Empire]], agreed to the [[Partitions of Poland]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change |url=https://archive.org/details/historyeasterneu00bide_296 |url-access=limited |last1=Bideleux |first1=Robert |last2=Jeffries |first2=Ian |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyeasterneu00bide_296/page/n171 156]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Region, State and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe |last1=Batt |first1=Judy |last2=Wolczuk |first2=Kataryna |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |page=153}}</ref> During the period of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], the [[Napoleonic era]] and the subsequent [[Final Recess of the Reichsdeputation|final meeting of the Imperial Diet]], most of the [[Free Imperial Cities]] were annexed by dynastic territories; the ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 the {{lang|de|Imperium}} was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{sfn|Fulbrook |1991|p= 97}}